Number ten. The Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from space.
To see something on Earth from space, it would have to be pretty big, which the Great Wall of China, all five thousand miles of it certainly is. But it's only thirty feet across at its widest. Here's a photo taken from the International Space Station, two hundred miles above Earth. Can you spot the Great Wall amid the mountain tops? Here, right? No, that's a river. The Wall is actually here. Even if you guessed the right lines by pure luck, this photo was taken with a zoom lens, so from the window of the International Space Station, it would look more like this, which pretty clearly makes the Great Wall count as "not visible." As for the man-made part of this misconception, our glorious man-made cities' blasting lights into the void certainly are visible.
第十。中國長城是唯一能在太空中看到的人造物體。
要從太空看到地球上的某個東西，它一定要是非常大，這中國長城全長五千英哩(八千公里)，一定是很大。但是在它最寬的地方只有三十英呎(九公尺)寬。這是一張從國際太空站，距地表兩百英哩(三百二十公里)高處所拍攝的照片。你可以在山巔之中找出長城嗎？這裡，對嗎？不，那是條河流。長城其實在這。即使你因為運氣好猜對了線條，這張照片是用長鏡頭拍攝的，所以從國際太空站窗戶它看起來更像是這樣，那很明顯地讓長城屬於「不可見的」。至於人造部分的誤解，我們那光榮的、人造的、城市爆出來到太空中的光線一定是可見的。
Number nine. Cracking Your Knuckles Causes Arthritis.
Socially obnoxious? Yes. Gives you arthritis later in life as karmic punishment? No.
第九。折你的關節造成關節炎。
會在社交圈裡令人厭惡嗎？是的。會讓你在日後生活中得到關節炎作為因果報應嗎？不會。
Number eight. People Only Use Ten Percent of Their Brain.
If you haven't seen a medical drama in the past oh, thirty year, you might not be aware that doctors now have machines that can see inside people's brains. And contrary to popular belief, ninety percent of the neurons don't sit around all day doing nothing. While scientists don't yet know exactly what each part does, they do know that all the bits matter. So if you think that someone could scoop out ninety percent of your brain and you'd still be just fine, then perhaps you really only do use ten percent of it.
第八。人們僅使用他們百分之十的大腦。
如果你過去三十年沒看過任何一部醫療影集，你可能不會知道醫生現在有機器可以看進人們的腦袋裡。而且不同於大家所想像的，百分之九十的神經細胞不會整天無所事事什麼都不做。儘管科學家還不完全地知道每個部位的作用，他們的確知道所有的部分都很重要。所以如果你認為某人可以挖出你百分之九十的腦袋而你還會好好的，那麼也許你真的只用了百分之十的大腦。
Number seven. Eskimos Have Hundreds of Words for Snow.
This one is technically correct but misleading. Some languages, such as German, like to make compound words by running several smaller ones together, which is why German words are sometimes absurdly long. Inuit languages use compound words as well. So rather than say "yellow snow" as you would in English, an Inuit speaker combines the two words into one, but it's not really a new word, just a quirk of grammar. So technically Eskimos do have hundreds of ways to describe snow, but then so does every language.
第七。愛斯基摩人有數百種描述雪的字彙。
這嚴格來說是正確但是誤導人的。有些語言，像是德文，喜歡藉由合併幾個簡短字彙來創造複合字，這是為何德文有時候長到很愚蠢的原因。伊努伊特(愛斯基摩一支)語也使用複合字。所以與其想你會用英文說「黃色的雪」，一位說伊努伊特語的人把這兩個字合而為一，但這不真的是個新字，只是玩弄文法。所以嚴格來說愛斯基摩人的確擁有數百種描述雪的方法，但另一方面來說，每個語言都有。
Number six. You Need Eight Glasses of Water a Day.
While doubtless some people would benefit from drinking more water and drinking less crap, there's no scientific evidence that eight glasses of water a day is the required amount, and some evidence says that it might be too much. And while we're talking about water...
第六。你一天需要八大杯水。
儘管無庸置疑地有些人從喝多點水、少喝點垃圾中獲益，沒有科學證據說一天八杯水是必須的份量，還有些證據說這可能太多了。而當我們提到水...
Number five. Tap Water is Bad but Bottled Water is Good.
If you live in a paradise, free from Government regulations like, say, Somalia, then you might have a good reason to prefer bottled water over tap. But modern, functioning countries have something called health regulations, which cover both kinds of water. Also, water is extremely dense, making transporting it from those pristine mountain tops and glaciers enormously expensive, which is why bottled water companies don't bother. "Bottled" water is often just local tap water with a fancy label and an enormous markup.
第五。自來水不好但瓶裝水很好。
如果你住在世外桃源，沒有政府規定，像是，比方說，索馬利亞，那麼你也許有個好理由選擇瓶裝水而不是自來水。但是近代的、運作中的國家有某種叫做健康條例的東西，那兩種水都保護。同時，水密度非常高，使得從那些有名的山峰和冰河運送它變得極為昂貴，這是為什麼瓶裝水公司不會自找麻煩。「瓶裝」水通常只是當地的自來水加上漂亮的標籤和昂貴的利潤。
Number four. Gum Takes Seven Years to Pass Through Your Digestive system.
This is pretty easy to disprove yourself, but it's understandable why most people don't try the experiment.
第四。口香糖要花上七年通過你的消化系統。
要你自己去推翻這點很容易，但是可以了解為什麼大部分的人不去嘗試這實驗。
Number three. Blood in your Veins is Blue.
The idea here is that the blood in veins is blue, and it only turns red when exposed to the oxygen in the air. Thinking this isn't unreasonable, after all, your veins look blue, and medical diagrams show arteries as red and veins as blue, but it's the same mistake as thinking that Mountain Dew is green because it's in a green bottle. Pour it out and you discover that Mountain Dew is really piss yellow, which is probably why it's in a green bottle to begin with. The next time you get blood withdrawn from a vein, take a look. What color is it? Red. How much oxygen is inside a good syringe? None. Unless you're a Horseshoe crab or Plavalaguna, your blood isn't blue.
第三。靜脈裡的血液是藍色的。
這裡的想法是說靜脈裡的血液是藍色的，而且當它只有在接觸到空氣中的氧氣時才會變成紅色。這麼想不是不合理，畢竟，你的靜脈看起來是藍色的，而且醫學圖表展示出動脈是紅色的而靜脈是藍色的，但這跟我們認為Mountain Dew(註一)是綠色的，因為它在綠色的瓶子裡面是相同的錯誤。把它倒出來你發現Mountain Dew實際上是尿黃色，這也許正是為何它一開始就是在綠色瓶子裡的原因。下次你從靜脈抽血，看一下。它是甚麼顏色？紅的。一支優良的針筒裡面有多少氧氣？一點也沒有。除非你是鱟魚或是Plavalaguna(第五元素裡藍色外星歌姬Diva的本名)，不然你的血液不是藍的。
Number two. Fan Death.
This misconception is a specialty of South Korea. Here the belief is that if you spend too much time with a rotating fan in a confined space, it will use up all your oxygen and you'll asphyxiate to death. Exactly how the fan made of lifeless, anaerobic plastic, competes for your oxygen is unclear, but hilariously South Korea fan manufacturers(who surely must know better) include timers on fans to prevent them from running too long.
第二。電風扇吹死人。
這個誤解是個南韓的特產。這裡的信念是說如果你在密閉空間花太多時間跟一台轉動的電扇在一起，它會用光你的氧氣然後你會窒息而死。確切來說用沒生命、厭氧的塑膠製成的電扇如何搶你的氧氣是不清楚的，但南韓電扇製造商(他們必定更清楚)很好笑地在電扇上裝定時器，預防它們轉太久。
Number one. People Swallow Eight Spiders a Year While Sleeping.
Supposedly while you're in bed, helplessly unconscious with your gob wide open, each year eight spiders find their way into your mouth, and you reflexively swallow them. This is plainly ridiculous. Spiders love warm, moist places, so eight is far too low an estimate.
第一。人們一年在睡覺的時候吞下八隻蜘蛛。
推測當你在睡覺，無助的昏迷，嘴巴大開的時候，每年八隻蜘蛛找到牠們的路跑進你的嘴巴裡，然後你反射性的吞下牠們。這很明顯的很荒謬。蜘蛛喜愛溫暖、潮濕的地方，所以八隻是太低估了。
註一：Mountain Dew是美國非常受歡迎的汽水品牌之一，顏色像維大力。
- 「不同於大家所想像的」- Contrary To Popular Belief
And contrary to popular belief, ninety percent of the neurons don't sit around all day doing nothing.
而且不同於大家所想像的，百分之九十的神經細胞不會整天無所事事什麼都不做。 - 「無所事事、袖手旁觀」- Sit Around
And contrary to popular belief, ninety percent of the neurons don't "sit around" all day doing nothing.
而且不同於大家所想像的，百分之九十的神經細胞不會整天無所事事什麼都不做。 - 「耗盡、用完」- Use Up
Here the belief is that if you spend too much time with a rotating fan in a confined space, it will "use up" all your oxygen and you'll asphyxiate to death.
這裡的信念是說如果你在密閉空間花太多時間跟一台轉動的電扇在一起，它會用光你的氧氣然後你會窒息而死。
